Kategoriarkiv: Amiga 1200

Amiga 1200 build based on the ReAmiga A1200 motherboard

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Black Amiga 1200

I just finished building my black Amiga 1200 that is based on a ReAmiga 1200 motherboard and a TF1260 turbo card and I am very happy with it!

System specifications:

  • ReAmiga A1200 v1.5 (black PCB)
  • TerribleFire 1260 (black PCB)
  • Indivision AGA MK3
  • Micronik 1.76MB floppy drive
  • Hard keyboard membrane
  • 4GB compact flash card
  • A1200.net replacement case, black
  • A1200.net replacement keycaps, black
  • Custom metal backplate

Comments on the build

Terrible Fire 1260

I like to run either 030 or 060, preferably 060, in my Amigas. Previously I had an Apollo 1260 in my old A1200 so I replaced it with a TF1260 that I built. The Terrible Fire1260 supports easier overclocking than the Apollo 1260 did and also has more memory, 128 MB.

Indivision AGA MK3

A scandoubler is a must have in the Amiga IMHO and the Indivision is a great option for that since it hooks up to HDMI directly. I got the first version years ago but sold it. Both versions has been proven to be reliable and good solutions, but price for it has went up a lot in 15 years.

Case and keyboard

The case and keys came from a1200.net. I got a hard keyboard membrane which worked great after the I had wiped the rubber key bottoms on a paper to make them conductive again. I also got a metal backplate from CenturionTech, it is a nice replacement for the ugly metal bottom shield, makes the whole system professional and fresh.

Other

I had an old MicroniK HD floppy drive and used that in the build. No idea where I got it from and I will probably never use it, but an A1200 does not look right without a floppy. I dont use old ball mouses anymore, so I got a MouSTer DB9 to USB adapter so I can use a wireless mouse.

Building the ReAmiga 1200

I built the ReAmiga A1200 from an empty motherboard PCB myself. I used parts from a broken Amiga 1200 motherboard. Halfway in the build I decided to build a second one as a backup so I got a white motherboard and built them both back to back. Both motherboards are tested and fully working. They are equiped with full LEDs. The white one has all green LEDs while the black one reminds of a christmas tree when its powered on.

The build was farily simple, as with most replicas close to original C= designs the amount of passives that has to be soldered is a lot, although not as insane as an A4000D/T.

I decided to build my motherboards without any sockets. There are two primary reasons for this, I can not professionally clean the motherboard, and cleaning flux from sockets is very difficult for me without an ultrasonic bath. The motherboard acts as a heatsink and it is more efficient if the chips are soldered to the motherboard IMHO. For example, Alice gets very hot (as does Lisa). Off course it is also more reliable, I have yet to find a socket that is not reliable though.

You can see the LEDs in action on the picture

Summary

If I had to chose to keep just one Amiga it would be difficult not to chose this A1200, it is fast thanks to having an 060 CPU. HDMI output is a nice luxury and with high resolution monitor drivers running at 1024×768 (in 8 colors) it almost feels like you had an RTG graphics card in it when you are in Workbench.